Gitmo Detainee Releases

Abstract: A former al-Qaida
cook released from Guantanamo was flown to his home in Sudan on Wednesday, the
country's state media reported.

Ibrahim al-Qosi, in
his 50s, was taken by a U.S. Air Force aircraft to Khartoum airport, Omdurman
radio said. He was greeted by his father and brother on his arrival and told
the station that he had a difficult time in "unfair detention in the
infamous Guantanamo prison."

Al-Qosi was taken to
Guantanamo in 2002, one of the first terror suspects to be sent there.

He pleaded guilty in
July 2010 to supporting terrorism by providing logistical support to al-Qaida
and was sentenced to 14 years, all but two of which were suspended by the
Pentagon legal officer overseeing Guantanamo tribunals. The suspension was
contingent on a number of conditions, including that Al-Qosi not engage in
"hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners."

Al-Qosi did not receive
credit for the more than eight years he had spent at Guantanamo before his
conviction.

Abstract:The US government has published for the first
time a list of 55 Guantanamo detainees cleared for release but still held amid
challenges identifying a willing host country or concerns about sending them
home. The list, which includes names and serial numbers, represents about a
third of the 167 "war on terror" suspects who still linger at the US
naval base in southern Cuba more than 11 years after the September 11, 2001
attacks on US soil.

A significant number of the men listed are Yemenis, reflecting US concerns over
sending Guantanamo detainees to the troubled nation, where they could become
involved in terror-related activities. President Barack Obama suspended
transfers to Yemen in January 2010, citing the "unsettled" security
situation there.

Since 2009, government officials have kept secret the identities of detainees
approved for release or transfer, saying a public release would hinder
diplomatic efforts to arrange for the men to be moved to "safe and
responsible" locations. "The United States originally sought
protection of this information in order to maintain flexibility in its
diplomatic engagements with foreign governments on potential detainee
transfers, especially in cases of resettlement in third countries, rather than
the detainees' respective countries of origin," a Justice Department
spokesperson said Friday.

But in a court filing in the US District Court for the District of Columbia in
the capital Washington, government lawyers said "circumstances have
changed" such that prisoners' names "no longer warrant
protection." The efforts of the United States to resettle Guantanamo
detainees have largely been successful," they said, noting that 28
prisoners have been sent to their home countries since 2009, while 40 prisoners
have been transferred to other countries.

Among the prisoners cleared for release was Shaker Aamer, the last British
resident held at Guantanamo, and the prison's five remaining Tunisians. London
has repeatedly called for Aamer to be freed. Missing from the list was Adnan
Latif, a 32-year-old Yemeni man who died at Guantanamo earlier this month, the
ninth prisoner to pass away since the prison camp was opened in 2002.

Shortly after taking office, President Barack Obama issued an order to shutter
the facility by January 2010. But his plans quickly fell apart amid staunch
opposition from Congress, as lawmakers raised security concerns. Although
Congress has placed restrictions limiting prisoner transfers to other countries
or on US soil, the Obama administration has sought help from allies willing to
take in qualified detainees.

Rights groups were quick to hail the new list's publication, with the American
Civil Liberties Union calling it a "partial victory for transparency"
that should also be a "spur to action." "These men have now
spent three years in prison since our military and intelligence agencies all
agreed they should be released," ACLU senior staff attorney Zachary
Katznelson said in a statement. "It is well past time to release and
resettle these unfairly imprisoned men" (Business Recorder, 2012).

Abstract: Omar Khadr has been sent from Guantanamo to Canada,
after returning from the jihad in Afghanistan and
Pakistan. Khadr is slated to stay in custody for the time being. It is
difficult to think of a more mythologized figure in the post-9/11 war on
terror. For the worldwide left, Khadr has become a symbol of all that is
supposedly wrong with America’s fight against the al Qaeda terror network. He
is now, in many minds, a victim. For one Canadian magazine, Omar Khadr is even
a Christ-like
figure.

While Khadr killed
one American medic, his life was saved by others. Khadr would not be alive
today if U.S. medics had not saved him from extensive wounds.

Joint Task Force
Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) considered Khadr a “high
intelligence value” detainee because he provided “valuable information”
about al Qaeda and the Taliban. Khadr’s father was a top al Qaeda figure. Khadr
knew his father’s associates well, and spilled the beans on them.

Khadr served as a
translator and a minion to a top al Qaeda operative in Afghanistan.

Omar
Khadr was not tortured. Khadr’s lawyers made up all sorts of allegations
about how their client was treated, and these allegations were widely and
reflexively repeated. They claimed, to choose just one example, that he was
“used by military police as a human mop to wipe his own urine and pine oil off
the floor of an interrogations chamber.” This never happened. It was a lie. As
military judge Patrick J. Parrish found: “There is no credible evidence the
accused was ever tortured…even using a liberal interpretation considering the
accused’s age.”

Omar Khadr was not
abused during a routine weigh-in session at Guantanamo. Khadr and his lawyers
claimed that he was roughed up while being weighed. Unfortunately for the
defense, the session was recorded. “The videotape of the accused being
weighed…clearly shows the accused was not abused or mistreated in any way by
any of the guards,” Judge Parrish found.

Khadr did have one unfortunate run-in with a military interrogator in
Afghanistan, but this can hardly be construed as “torture.” That interrogator
said a nasty thing to Khadr – recounting a fictitious story about a young
Afghan who was sent to prison and gang-raped. But
this had no effect. Judge Parrish found “there is no evidence such a story
coerced or in any way caused the accused to make any incriminating statements
at any time.”

Finally, Omar Khadr
was not a “child soldier,” as he has been widely labeled. He worked for al
Qaeda – a global terrorist organization. He was a teenager when his life was
saved by American medics after an extended firefight. Teenagers are tried as
adults in North America regularly. And Khadr clearly did not think of himself
as a child when fighting American forces. According to the stipulation of fact
agreed upon by both parties during Khadr’s military trial, Khadr refused to
flee the firefight even after American soldiers asked for all women and
children to evacuate the premises.

Khadr decided to stay
and fight that day in Afghanistan. SFC Speer paid the price for Khadr’s choice
with his life.

Khadr lives, as do
the many falsehoods his advocates have spread in his defense. Judging by the
way ex-Gitmo detainees have been received in the UK and elsewhere, Khadr will
find there is a large market for his fiction (Weekly
Standard, 2012).

Title:
Guantanamo Detainee Back In Canada To Serve Out SentenceDate: September 30, 2012Source:CNNAbstract: Guantanamo detainee
Omar Khadr has been transferred to his homeland of Canada to serve the
remainder of his sentence, Canada's Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said
Saturday.

Khadr boarded a
military plane at the Guantanamo Naval base in Cuba and arrived at a military
airbase in Trenton, Ontario. He will serve the rest of his sentence at
Millhaven Prison in Bath, Ontario, about 130 miles east of Toronto.

The case and the
prisoner's legal fate have sparked controversy among Canadians. Many think his
sentence has been too lenient. Others, noting his capture at age 15, think he
should have been treated as a child soldier and point to alleged mistreatment
while in custody.

Under a plea deal
with military prosecutors in October 2010, Khadr admitted to throwing a grenade
during a 2002 firefight in Afghanistan that killed Sgt. First Class Christopher
Speer, a member a U.S. Army Special Forces Unit.

He pleaded guilty to
murder, attempted murder, providing material support for terrorism, spying and
conspiracy.

"This transfer
occurs following a process initiated by the United States government and
determined in accordance with Canadian law," Toews said.

"I am satisfied
the Correctional Service of Canada can administer Omar Khadr's sentence in a
manner which recognizes the serious nature of the crimes that he has committed
and ensure the safety of Canadians is protected during incarceration," he
said, adding that the Canadian government would have no say in parole
proceedings.

As part the plea
deal, Khadr received an eight-year sentence with no credit for time served.
Khadr's lawyers say Khadr agreed to the plea deal under the condition that he
would serve most of the sentence in Canada.

Khadr's lawyers say
the transfer was delayed for months as the Canadian government seemed to drag
its feet.

Earlier this year,
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told CNN that Khadr's repatriation would
mark a significant step forward in eventually closing Guantanamo.

Two senior Obama
administration officials said it took about a year to work out arrangements
with Canadians for the transfer.

Negotiations were a
very long and complicated process, and there were extensive conversations with
Canadians, one of the officials said.

There were a lot of
legal hurdles on the U.S. side and clearly hesitation on the part of Canadian
government to do this because the public is polarized about Khadr, the official
said.

Khadr was the only
remaining Western detainee at Guantanamo.

His repatriation in
Canada is highly controversial, due in large part to the views held by his
family members. His father, Ahmed Khadr was a close associate of Osama Bin
Laden and openly said he believed it was his Islamic duty to train his children
in jihad.

Human rights groups
around the world have denounced Khadr's capture at the age of 15 and his
10-year detention at Guantanamo.

"Given the Obama
administration's glacial pace towards closing the U.S.-controlled detention
center, little and late though it is, today's news represents progress,"
Amnesty International USA's Executive Director Suzanne Nossel said in a
statement.

Canada should conduct
a full investigation into Khadr's allegations of torture and "remedy for
the human rights violations he suffered," she said.

The Pentagon said
that currently 166 detainees remain in detention at Guantanamo Bay (CNN, 2012).